Do my ears deceive me??

My monitor speakers cost around $2500 and their bigger brothers (slightly bigger than my old JBLs) go for around $4500. The maker of these speakers used to be the head designer at Dynaudio and Focal-JMLab. Most of their successful models were designed by him. He just charges a more down to earth price for them, not anywhere close to $20K-$30K.

All the best,
Nonoise

Not only did I have the Marantz's tone controls to fiddle with, I also had the pots on my JBLs to do the same with. The problem is, they were both too broad in scope and while it did cure the edge and bite, it was also like wrapping my tweeters and midranges with bolts of cheesecloth. Both ways just sucked the life out of the music. 

Unless you have the money and skill for a highly exacting device, most types of EQ are a blunt instrument, not a scalpel, as you're effecting bordering frequencies that you shouldn't be messing with, unless you like that kind of sound. 

I'm 69 years old with occasional but soft tinnitus, and I can hear minute changes and shifts with everything I tinker with down to some that seem like sideways moves, but I still hear them. The solution is to live with knowing that it's not perfect, but can be mighty damn fine sounding.

All the best,
Nonoise

No manufacturer — and I mean ZERO— uses any EQ in their audio systems at high-end audio shows. Why do you think that is? If Magico, Wilson, Joseph Audio, Rockport, Vandersteen, Audio Research, etc. don’t ever use EQ at shows that they pay a boatload of $$$ to attend, what do you think you know that they don’t? Are you smarter than them? If the answer is no, you really gotta think about your whole system because something is clearly off. Or just keep polishing the turd with EQ.  Whatever makes you happy is all good.

That takes me back to when I posted about the tone controls on my Marantz and how they could help tame some brightness and got mostly bemused responses saying, "don't". That's when that sorely missed gentleman, Almarg, chimed in to prop me back up, explaining that it's best to leave them alone, out of the signal path, that it would do more harm than good. I miss him.

In support of @soix's remarks, I finally found that one must pay attention to the drivers and avoid the ones that don't perform well. Simple as that. Listen to them. There have been advances in speaker design (despite what some claim) that can put an end to the debate and you don't need to spend a fortune to get there.

Some are probably tired of me saying this but my Atalante 3 monitors go almost as deep and are cleaner and have better tone and detail than my much larger JBL 4319s. That's comparing a 7" driver to JBL's 12 ". 

The domed tweeter is proprietary as well with a coating of the makers own design. Nothing about these drivers are off the shelf, or modified. They are made in house and only for themselves. This tweeter goes higher, cleaner, has much more detail and ambience and never once have I winced, whereas with the JBLs, I'd be rushing for the remote.

The great part is, they're relatively cheap compared to what's out there, and that factor has many "audiophiles" passing on them, only to buy something more expensive and spend countless hours taming their system, looking for that bandage. 

All the best,
Nonoise